Wood-bending machine



(No Model.)

GQPLALMY., Wood Bending Machine.. Nq. 234,935.

Patented Nov.v30, 1880;

Unrrnn STATES knfrnnr @rare GEORGE F. ALMY, OF DELPHOS, OHIO.

WOOD-BENDING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 234,935, dated November30, 1880.

Application filed March 11,1880. (No model.)

To alt whom it 'may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. ALMY, of Delphos, in the county ot Allenand State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inWood-Bending Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form part of this specification.

My invention relates particularly to the endcompression mechanism inlever machines in which are employed metal straps/beneath the timberblanks to be bent, and forms above them, the bands being provided withadjustable abutments to control the end expansion of the wood whilebeing bent.

The object of the rst part of my invention is to provide an improvedmechanism for compressing the end of the blank while it is being bent,which is simple in construction, may be easily operated, and will exerta direct and powerful pressure upon the end ofthe timber by mechanismthat may be quickly operated and will not get out ot` order; and theimprovement consists in connecting to the end otl the bending-lever asliding head operated upon by an eccentric-shaft that passes through thesliding head, and is connected at its ends with the bending-lever bylinks, the eccentric or cam shaft being provided with a crank-liandleand having suitable bearings in the sliding head, so that as the crankis turned the.

sliding` head will be moved backward and forward upon the lever, eitherto compress the blank orrelease its hold upon it.

Heretofore it has been ditticult to connect the ends of the metal strapswith the compression mechanism without rendering the stra-ps liable tokink while the blank receives the end-pressure, and iin-ally becomebrokenin ashort time; and the object of the next` part of my inventionis to provide suitable means for overcomin g this difficult-y, whichimprovement consists in securing` a xed abutment or guide-plate to thebaud, with which is connected a movable abutment-plate to press againstthe end of the timber blank to receive its pressure from the slidinghead and compression mechanism, as will hereinafter appear.

The accompanying drawings show a single lever with the above-describedmechanism attached, and, for the convenience of this exhibit, showingonly the strap permanently connected to the lever at one end and thetimber blank held in place by a socket- A rubber block in the bottom ofthe socket serves to more fully show the action of the end-compressionmechanism.

It will be understood that the strap is not in practice secured to thelever, and the socket and rubber are only used for illustration.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a bending-leverprovided with the above-described mechanism, and Fig. 2 a side elevationot' the same with the ends broken away.

The mechanism herein shown is preferably connected with a machine of thetype shown in the patent of John Morris, dated March ll, 1856, andreissued May 27,1862, in which two bending-levers are employed, whichare pivoted at their inner ends to the mainframe, and are connected attheir outer ends by ropes or chains operated upon by a winding-drum insuch manner that the outer ends ot the lever are drawn together. Thetimber to be bent into shape being secured at its ends to the outer endsof the levers, the timber will be bent into shape to conform with aforni or mold-block around which the timber is bent.

In the drawings only one ofthe bendinglevers A is shown, which ispivoted at its inner end to the frame, as above described, and at itsouter end is provided with a sliding head, B, connected with the leverby an eccentric` shaft, O, the ends of which are coupled with the end ofthe lever by links D D, secured to eccentric-pins c c of the shaft C,and to the lever by a bolt, E. A crank-handle, G', secured to theeccentric-pin c serves to turn lthe shaft. The sliding` head B isprovided with side lugs, b b, which form bearings for theeccentric-shaft, so that 'as the crank-handle and shaft are turned thehead B will be caused to slide back and forth a limited distance uponthe lever.

The metal band or strap F rests upon the lever in the usual way, and hasits ends permanently secured to a stationary abutment- IOO il l

block, G, formed ot' a knee-plate, one side, G, ot which is riveted tothe strap, and the other side, G, is turned up at right angles .theretoand forms the stationary abutment and guideplate.

A movable abutment, H, arranged parallel with the plate G and at rightangles to the strap, is provided with bearing and guide pins H H2 forthe sliding pressure-head B to bear against. .The pins H H2 pass throughthe plate G of the fixed abutment, and the movable abutment is therebyheld in place relatively to the strap and timber to be bent, but isallowed to move freely in the direction of the length ofthe lever tocompress the timber, as will hereinafter appear.

The sliding head B is provided at its inner end with anupwardly-projecting face-plate, B', arranged parallel with the abutmentsG H, which bears against the ends of the pins H H2, and through theinstrumentality ot' the eccentric-links and crank-handle force them,together with the movable abutment, with great pressure against the endof the timber,

or blank to be bent.

In operation the blank to be bent into the required shape, after beingproperly steamed, is placed upon the metal strip F, that rests upon theupper side of the lever, so that the blank will h`t snugly between themovable abutments G when said abutments are placed at the outer end oftheir stroke. The pressure is brought to bearagainstthe end of theblanks when the bending first begins, so that the tibers of the wood arecompressed longitudinally to compensate for the strain brought upon themduring the operation ot' bending, which would otherwise distend thefibers of the wood, and thereby breaking or weakening the timber at suchpoint.

The stationaryY abutment guides and supports the movable abutment sothat it will not become disconnected therefrom. The movable abntmentsadmit of ample movement to compress the timber without acting upon themetal strip to buckle and kink itin the slightest degree, which wouldcause them to break ina short time, causing considerable delay andexpense.

The operation ot' wood-bending machines provided with end-compressionmechanism is too well known to require a further description here. p

It is obvious that changes may be made in the mode ot' coupling themovable abutment with the stationary abutment without departing from thespirit of my invention.

Thetixed abutmentis provided with a hooked pin, hwhich affords means forconnecting the ends ot' the straps and timbers by suitable loops passingover the former in a well-known manner.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. Thecombination, in a wood-bending machine, of a stationary block secured tothe end oi' a metal strap with a loose sliding abutment havingguide-pins H H2 and suitable mechanism for imparting pressure to saidpins,and adapted, when relieved of this pressure, to be thrown back bythe pressure ot' the timber being bent, substantially as herein setforth.

2. The combination, in a wood-bending machine, ot lever A with slidinghead B, having side lugs, b b, eccentric-shaft C, liournaled in saidlugs, andlinks D D,connectingleverAwith shaft G bymeans of eccentriopinscc,all constructed and arranged to operate substantially as and ior thepurposes set forth.

3. In a wood-bending machine, the sliding head B, provided withface-plate B', lugs b i),

and eccentric-shaft C, in combination with the movable abutment H,stationary abutmentblock G, pins H H2, attached to block H and passingthrough block G, all constructed and arranged to operate substantiallyasv and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I aiiix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

GEO. Il'. ALMY. lVitnesses:

B'. J. BRo'rHEn'roN, W. T. DOLBEY.

